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When the whole twitter/blog thing started, there was a a lot of pontificating about what it meant. It was generally seen as a way of ‘involving people’ in politics. High profile journalists and politicians, appeared to feel they were doing the general public a service by being accessible. The underlying assumption being that we aspired to be part of what they were part of and would be grateful they found the time to lower themselves.

The problem with that goes to the heart of everything. The blindness to what a rotten world they are in, and the complexity of the world outside it allowed that arrogance to continue for quite a while. The window they opened didn’t show a world people want to be part of. Don’t get me wrong, many do and would sell their grannies for the salary and the header of a column. It showed a rotten corrupt world. Where people with no sense of morality, no sense of the world outside their bubble, operate according to rules that would make most people shudder. Confident they have earned the right. The influence that the ignorance and stupidity of this elite bubble has on the rest of us has begun to look quite dangerous. It also showed that the rot has not eaten everything away. That there is much to protect.

Far from showing a world that people want to be part of, it showed what needs changing. And with the collapse of the Murdoch stranglehold, the scale of that rot has become clear. And as we enter the shift from one form of media to another, from top down hierarchies to a connectedness which bypasses media outlets, it would appear that that window has weakened the bubble. It is no longer hermetically sealed. And few of us aspire to live by the standards it sets. Any qualification that the media and parliament felt they had to dictate morality to the rest of us, is gone. Dissolving under scrutiny.

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I was astonished last night. Watching Newsnight, I found that I am not part of any class at all. Or the electorate. Apparently, when my husband and I decided to seperate, I was opting out of society. It turns out when you leave your husband you forfeit the right to political representation. According to James Purnell, any woman leaving her husband, earning what the mother of a young child can reasonably expect to earn, is a ‘special interest’ group, who Labour have been too kind to.

When my husband and I were discussing whether we could save our marriage, we considered many things. We considered how to share care of our daughter. We considered who was best placed to stay in the house, and who should leave and start again. We discussed the need to share childcare, so my ex could continue to work and earn enough to keep his house. We discussed how we would deal with conflicts that arose. We discussed these things with our daughter’s welfare in mind. As parents, that was what we assumed we were supposed to do.

Unfortunately I hadn’t been aware that the second I walked out of that door, I lost the right to be represented by any political party. THat I was a problem to be dealt with. I had assumed that as my career had been in the public sector, Mr.Purnell might have been aware of the pay freezes that resulted from Labour’s economic failure. I had assumed that Labour were aware of the cost of housing, also a result of their economic failure. I had assumed that no rational person would ignore the relationship between Labour’s economic policy and their social policy. I KNOW Labour are aware of the gender pay gap that opens up after motherhood. But apparently my desire not to continue to sleep in the marital bed, is at the root of Labour’s problems. THis became clear after the ‘mumsnet’ election. Since then being treated as scum has clarified this misunderstanding.

When I joined the Labour Party after the election, the bumpf in the welcome letter didn’t define who the working class were. Apparently, when you get sick. You’re out. And if like, half the families in the UK you need tax credits, or childcare, you are out. When you lose your job, you are out. Even if the reason your job was lost, is austerity measures caused by the Labour Party’s economic failure. Get sick? Out. Disabled? Out. Caring for your relatives? Out. Stop fucking your husband? Out.

When I stoppped allowing my husband to stick his dick in me, I became part of the underclass. The onus is now on me to find someone who will give me financial security in return for the right to stick their dick in me on a regular basis. If I achieve this I will be welcomed back into the working class and be entitled to political representation.

I have friend who left her partner the year before last. For very good reason. I helped her. I haven’t seen her with a black eye or bruised face for quite a while. She is returning to him this week. She has known it would probably be necessary since last years budget. She, like many other women, can’t afford to work any more, and she can’t afford to keep her house. Is probably important to say this isn’t the first time this has happened since the coalition got in. Apparently, Labour values mean she should man up. Accept his fist for the sake of deficit. I spent most of last night wishing I was drunk, because I couldn’t bear the thought of it. I was quite angry on twitter, but anger is so offputting for our politicos.

After watching James Purnell, I understand. Equality is for those who can afford it. And Labour representns those people well. I’d tell someone, but apparently everyone is fine with it. Careers? Years at uni? All that work? It turns out when you become a mother you become a whore by default. It’s agreed by all parties. The moderate, centrist response.

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The problem that faces the US, as I see it, is not whether or not they can break the deadlock they have been in for months. THis is not a problem of two tribes who cannot agree. This is a country who have not had the power to reign in a plutocracyy(or whatever word you want to use) for a long time. And the risk is not that agreement will not be reached, but that there will be no confidence in their ability to get through this solvent even when agreement is reached. In Europe the same questions apply.